August 2014 HOP Newsletter - Women, Food and Agriculture Network

growing together
August 2014 Newsletter
On-Farm Mentorship Spotlight: Rebecca, Maja and Susan
by Margaret Connelly
Rebecca Vasquez and Maja Black, two
participants in WFAN’s Harvesting Our
Potential (HOP) on-farm mentorship
program, are outliers in the realm of farmer
demographic statistics. While the average
farmer is male and around the age of 57,
Becca and Maja are enthusiastic young
women in their 20s. Both women make the
short daily commute to Susan Jutz’s farm,
Welcome!
Welcome to the August
edition of WFAN’s Harvesting Our
Potential newsletter! Our program
is designed to help beginning and
aspiring women farmers in Iowa
and Nebraska turn their farming
dreams into reality, through onand off-farm mentorships, business
planning classes, and peer
networking. One way we hope to
encourage networking is to send
out periodic newsletters like this
one, featuring participating
mentors and mentees, and some
resources we hope will be helpful
to you.
Enjoy your August issue, and
feel free to send us pictures,
stories, and information requests
for future issues!
~ WFAN staff
called Local Harvest
CSA/ZJ Farm, near
Solon, IA. While
there, they learn by
doing, with the
repetition of tasks
aiding in the
educational process.
Sometimes, Susan is
even known to impart
a few stories while
they all work, because
not only does she
have a gift for
storytelling, but she
Maja, Susan and Becca taking a break from weeding and harvesting at
also has a warehouse of Susan’s Local Harvest CSA/ZJ Farm near Solon, IA. (Margaret Connelly
photo.)
knowledge about
farming.
there always was to be done. Even on
Becca officially joined the HOP
program in May, but had been volunteering
at Susan’s farm since April. She graduated
from the University of Iowa with a degree in
Global Resources and the Environment,
and this course of study ultimately inspired
her to test out farming for herself. In fact,
upon joining the farm, Becca “wanted to
experience it all and not just read about it.
Farming is a lot harder than people think it
is. Now I understand this work more, and
I’ve come to realize that it’s really tough to
grow things without pesticides, for
example.”
Since her term at the farm ended in
the beginning of August, Becca was able to
reflect on the experience, acknowledging
that it was surprising just how much work
Saturdays and Sundays, technically “offdays,” there is still produce to harvest,
sheep to water, and tasks to attend to
around the farm. Perhaps most importantly,
Becca feels she made significant progress –
not only on her initial goals, but on things
she would not have even known to ask
about before (such as what kohlrabi is and
how to harvest it).
Becca’s co-worker and fellow mentee,
Maja, did some work on Susan’s farm last
summer while her older sister partook in the
HOP experience. Thanks to her sister’s
influence and her own experience learning
from Susan, Maja decided to take “the
opportunity to learn the ropes a bit more”
by signing up to be a mentee herself.
(Continued on next page.)
Get Connected!
WFAN wants to make sure
you stay connected with us,
your fellow mentees and
mentors, and other WFAN-ers!
Sign up for the WFAN
newsletter to get copies of the
quarterly newsletter and
periodic event announcements. It’s easy and free!
Go to www.wfan.org, and
click “Get Connected” from the
right sidebar. Enter your contact
information to join the email list.
Consider joining the listserv
as well, so you can post
information to the WFAN
community and see what others
are posting. You can also join
our online forum, which has
several groups which may be of
interest to you. These options
are on the same page as the
email list.
While you’re on the site,
check out the quarterly
newsletter archive, browse the
farmer resources, etc.
Becca (left) and Maja harvesting zucchini at ZJ Farm. Margaret Connelly photo.
The payoff so far: she has learned to
take on a larger leadership role and
figure out how to negotiate a position of
authority despite being younger than
most others on the farm.
Another rewarding aspect is the
reinforcement of her beliefs about “how
important farming and the work we’re
doing is. Lots of our extra produce goes
to a pantry in Cedar Rapids, for
example.” Maja also said that it’s
remarkable just how many people with
widely ranging backgrounds come to
volunteer at the farm. Regardless of
their different backgrounds, all these
[email protected]
HOP Program Coordinator
Lynn Heuss
[email protected]
HOP Communications Assistant
This newsletter is a periodic publication
of Women, Food, and Agriculture Network.
Contact us at [email protected], or mail to
WFAN, PO Box 611, Ames, IA 50010. Visit
us on the web at www.wfan.org.
HOP Staff
WFAN Executive Director
Bridget Holcomb/Leigh Adcock
Page 2
Margaret Connelly
[email protected]
Nebraska project partner:
Center for Rural Affairs
Virginia Meyer
[email protected]
www.cfra.org
HOP News
people bring a mutual respect for local
produce.
Plans for these women are
constantly developing, but both want to
include their newfound knowledge about
farming into what ever their future
situations will be. While Maja imagines
operating her own farm some day, Becca
sees urban agriculture as an attractive
possibility.
Both women agree on one thing:
their experience with Susan and
Harvesting Our Potential gave them the
tools necessary to take the next steps on
the path.
Want to learn more about
the Harvesting Our Potential
program, including
opportunities for business
planning classes and
conference scholarships?
Visit http://wfan.org/ourprograms/harvesting-ourpotential/
August 2014
Off-Farm Mentorship Spotlight: Caite and Shanen
by Margaret Connelly
Beginning livestock farmer Caite
Palmer and her mentor Shanen Ebersole
may have personal opinions on how to run
their respective ranches, but they share in
the most beneficial aspect of Harvesting
Our Potential: emotional support.
As a beginner, Caite says that the
mentorship is “especially helpful to have
with a woman, since it is kind of a boys’
club out here in the cattle industry.
Shanen has gone through the same
struggles and come out the other side,
which is really encouraging.”
Providing this kind of support is what
Shanen aims to do, since trusting oneself is
not easy, she says – especially since
farmers do not always begin farming with a
ton of confidence.
Caite has been farming with her
husband for two and a half years on the
farm his family purchased in 1888 near
Castalia, IA. Encompassing 277 acres (180
acres are tillable), Prairie’s Edge Farm
specializes in hogs, cattle, birds for meat
and eggs, and row crops.
Caite is not totally new to the farming
lifestyle though, since she grew up on a
hobby farm. The return to farming came
about after
attending culinary
school and
realizing the big
city dream was
not for her. The
experience of
living near Boston
and going to
culinary school
did, however,
cement the belief
that quality foods,
humanely-raised
animals, and the
whole story
behind where
food comes from is
very important.
Caite Palmer tends to her Prairie’s Edge Farm pigs.
Caite is passionate about using her
hands and having something to show for
her hard work, even if it means putting in
18-hour days. Besides emotional support,
Shanen has demonstrated that everything
does not necessarily have to be done the
traditional way or what others think is the
“right way.” One such example of this is
how Caite does not use milk replacer to
feed her dairy cattle, but rather has them
on grass, which is a rare practice.
Ebersole Cattle Company, near
Kellerton, IA, is an animal welfareapproved cow-calf operation that uses all
natural methods. Shanen and her husband
rotationally graze their cow herd and
intensively graze their beef calves. They
also manage an additional 400 custom
cows during the summer months.
Shanen poses for a selfie with a newborn calf
on her farm, Ebersole Cattle Company.
HOP News
When Shanen applied to become an
on-farm mentor for Harvesting Our
Potential, she said, “I am interested in
helping women feel more confident in
ranching. I would love to help other women
succeed.”
August 2014
Communication for this off-farm
partnership is mostly conducted in the
form of Facebook messenger or through
email. These methods provide quick
responses for in-the-moment types of
situations and they also allow Shanen a
chance to boost confidence when it is
necessary. While these exchanges
sometimes lead to more in-depth
conversations, Shanen would like to set up
a more structured time to delve into
Caite’s goals and other crucial topics such
as finances and marketing, in order to
make sure the mentorship is covering all
the bases.
At this point in time though, Caite has
found the experience to be “immensely
valuable.” She adds that since Shanen is
not personally invested in Caite’s farm, she
is able to offer an important opinion or
insight that someone else might be wary of
suggesting. The frequent exchanges of
ideas and positive messages between
Shanen and Caite allow for a relationship
that is continually building on trust.
Page 3
Upcoming Opportunities
The 2014 WFAN Annual Conference will be held
Friday and Saturday, Nov. 14-15, at the Fairfield (IA) Arts
and Convention Center. The theme is “Women Doing
Democracy: Building Grassroots Coalitions to Build Healthy
Food and Farming in Your Community.” Keynote speakers
will include Karen Washington of Black Urban Growers, The
Bronx, and Diane Rosenberg of Jefferson County Farmers
and Neighbors, Fairfield.
Field tours, locally sourced food, learning and fun!
Scholarships are available for beginning women farmers –
visit the conference page at www.wfan.org/2014-wfanannual-conference for info. We will hold a 2014 mentorship
gathering during social time on Friday evening. Join us!
Calling IA and NE women! We are seeking aspiring,
beginning and experienced women farmers to participate in
the HOP program during the fall of 2014, and spring,
summer and fall of 2015. Please contact WFAN at
[email protected], or Virginia at the Center for Rural Affairs at
[email protected] for more information and to apply.
PO Box 611 • Ames, IA 50010
HOP Potluck! Come Meet and Learn with
Other Mentors and Mentees on Oct. 4
You are all invited to a Harvesting Our Potential
potluck on Saturday, October 4, beginning
at 12:30 p.m. at Prairie’s Edge Farm, 1206 150th
St., Castalia, IA. The event will kick off with the
potluck (bring a dish to share and tableware).
Field day to follow the food.
Farmer Caite Palmer (profiled on p. 3) will talk
about using brood cows to feed calves in a
feeder-to-finish operation. A wagon ride to the
pasture may also be included. Please RSVP to
[email protected] so Caite knows how many to
expect..
Business Planning Classes for 2015
WFAN and CFRA will offer half-day Farm Dreams
classes for aspiring women farmers in the winter and spring
of 2015, and we are working on options for an intensive
business planning course for beginning women farmers.
Check the HOP web page for information in early 2015!